The Kindness of Strangers
by Skuns
Summary: Not everyone on the world is just another face in the crowd. An AU one shot.


The Kindness of Strangers

An AU one shot that's been floatin' around in my head for some time.

...

Robin stumbled to the ground in a drunken heap when a crack in the sidewalk caught the heel of one of her flashy, black pumps. A groan turned into a girlish giggle as she rolled onto her rear, dusting off her scraped palms and bending her legs awkwardly thanks to her damnably high heels. She should have known better than to mix ridiculous fashion with copious amounts of alcohol, but it was at her friends request, and it had been quite a while since the last time she enjoyed a late night out with good company.

"I should really be more careful..." She giggled quietly to herself as she surveyed her dirty and raw hands. The few drinks she had indulged in dulled the stinging sensation and made the moment a little bit funnier. Well, if you can't laugh at yourself...

As she crawled to her knees and carefully got to her feet, a shadow from across the street caught her eye when it's owner stepped into the lamplight. Squinting her eyes for focus, Robin wasn't quite sure what she was looking at. Either she had much more to drink than she thought, or a young man was holding onto the bridges railings from the wrong side of the bridge. Opting for the latter just in case, Robin scrambled fully to her feet and ran as fast as she could to the other side of the street(or as fast as her heels would let her) while flailing her arms wildly in an almost comical manner.

"STOP! DON'T DO IT!" She wailed, the look on her face twisting into one of pain and compassion. Her heels clicked loudly on the asphalt and with as much grace as her inebriated stupor would allow, she leapt onto the high sidewalk, only wobbling slightly, then grabbed hold of the mans arm to prevent him from doing whatever terrible thing he had planned.

He turned his head around to look at her, his lips forming a silly smile before he greeted her.

"Oh, hello! Who are you?"

Robin clutched her chest as she breathed heavily from her unanticipated sprint before placing both hands on his arm to keep him from jumping.

"My name's Robin and I can't let you do this."

"Huh? Why not? It's not like you know me or anything."

"Uh, yes, that's true..."

His words didn't deter her. Robin wore her heart on her sleeve and she always felt compelled to rush to the aid of anyone who needed it so, she tightened her grip on him(her palms started to burn a little from the pressure).

"...but it doesn't matter if we know each other or not because I would never forgive myself for letting you get away."

"Nyaha, that has to be the funniest thing I've ever heard. You're weird, lady. We're strangers, you don't have to care about what I do."

"So what if we're strangers? I do care and that's all that matters."

He stayed smiling but returned his gaze back to the view of the bay far below them. The water rolled in lazy waves and ripples, shimmering in places from the city lights and looking for all the world like a bottomless abyss. Even as he leaned farther away from the railing, Robin couldn't help looking over the edge herself. The sight made her dizzy with anxiety and caused her to hold him more firmly.

"Nobody _really_ cares in the end... They might be sad or whatever at first... But the problem didn't happen to them so they have no reason to think much on such things. What's it to a stranger if some poor sap decides to end his life by jumping from a bridge? They'll watch and act like they tried to stop him, and either pat themselves on the back for a job well done, or pretend like they did all that they could. It's all about themselves in the end and how good they tried to feel when a tragedy presented itself. That's just the way people work..."

Robin tried not to appear so stunned. He was right. People had a nasty way of making things personal and all about themselves, even when it was clearly not. Their fifteen minutes of fame was all they were really thinking about but she was not one of them.

"That's quite a view you have... Yes, there are some awful people out there, people who don't care at all. But I'm willing to bet your family and friends care. You can't honestly believe that they won't miss you if you're gone."

He shrugged under her hands but never once tried to escape her grip.

"Naw, I don't have anyone like that. Well, maybe my cat? She might, hehehe. But even she likes to disappear on me from time to time."

"Well, that's just how cats are, aren't they? But you must have _someone_ who cares about you. Parents? Brothers or sisters? Coworkers, even?"

He seemed to ponder for a moment as he continued to lean away from her and the railing, adding a gentle sway to his already precarious predicament that caused her heart to pound with adrenaline and fear.

"Nope. Parents are gone, no brothers or sisters that I can think of, and coworkers are just coworkers. Kinda hard to matter to someone when you have no one to matter to, nyaha."

Whether he was telling the truth or not made no difference. Robin had to do something if she was going to help him step back from the edge.

"I care... And not for the reasons you think. If I were only trying to stop you for my own gain, would I be willing to do this?"

Still holding his arm in her hands, Robin stepped closer to him(her intoxication helped to make her a little bit bolder), watching him nervously the whole time, and quickly placed a small kiss on his lips. He opened his eyes wide as the silly grin on his face faded nearly altogether.

"I promise that I truly care. We may be strangers, but if you come back to the sidewalk then I'll be your friend. Doesn't that sound like a nice exchange?"

A breeze picked up and Robin watched as it played with his platinum hair. Dropping her eyes a fraction, she saw his face stretch with another smile before he carefully turned his body away from the bay and towards her.

"You sure are weird, running up to strangers, crying about how you care for them, kissing them when they don't deserve it..." He said this as he climbed back over the railing, jumping from the crossbar to land heavily on his feet next to her. "But if not jumping from this bridge means that I get to see you again then alright, I won't do it, haha."

Robin let go of a long-held sigh and smiled at him.

"That's such a relief... And like I promised, I'm now your friend. Care to walk with me?"

He tapped a finger to his chin as he responded.

"Yeah, sure. It is like, three in the morning. Why you're walking around by yourself at this hour is beyond me; it's even more dangerous than what I was just doing!"

Stepping in the direction of her apartment, the two of them chattered about anything and everything as they bridged the gap between them and the farther they walked away from their meeting place, the more sure Henry was that he wouldn't tell her that he had simply been enjoying the view.

...

Short, sweet, and hopefully to the point.

:3


End file.
